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March 2018

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Washington-headquartered Savers, a global purpose-driven thrift retailer, launched a new report examining perceptions of clothing consumption and reuse and identifying educational opportunities to change wasteful habits. With more clothing and textiles heading to the landfill than ever before, Savers wanted to better understand what is driving those behaviours and what would motivate people to change their behaviours.

"As an organization committed to reuse, Savers felt compelled to identify barriers and clarify misconceptions around donating clothing and purchasing pre-owned goods," said Ken Alterman, President and CEO of Savers. "The insights garnered from the Savers State of Reuse Report point to the growing opportunity for the public and private sectors to work together to educate people about reducing clothing's environmental footprint and drive the adoption of reuse."

Savers commissioned the State of Reuse Report after learning that the average American citizen will throw away 81 pounds of clothing this year alone – 95 per cent of which can be reused or recycled. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, reusing goods keeps them at their highest utility, thus reducing the need for additional resources to process new products.

The State of Reuse Report found that people vastly underestimate the amount of clothing and textiles they throw away each year. People report throwing away an average of 4.7 trash bags worth, while the actual amount disposed is nearly double, 8.1 trash bags worth.
It also found that misconceptions around what donation centers do and do not take. Fifty-four percent of respondents admit to throwing away their clothing and textiles because they don't think any donation center would take them.

What is heartening is that the report found that people strongly desire to learn about reuse and its positive economic and environmental impacts with more than half of North Americans saying they are more likely to reuse after learning about the clothing industry's environmental impact.

More than 90 per cent of North Americans believe the concepts behind reuse should be taught in schools to increase sustainable habits in future generations. (SH)